Catholic Conversation

This conversation was with one Catholic and includes areas where there were the most questions or concerns. In order to be applicable to a larger audience the discussion is broken into sections representing difficulties Catholics typically have with RELIGION (in general) that is, other than their “Catholic religion.” I have been astonished in talking to Catholics how many say they follow Catholic teaching, but confide in me that they have doubts about God’s existence. If I ask a Catholic about God’s existence and they reply in the affirmative; I ask why they believe and I usually get, “ask my priest.” Occasionally, I do get some answer to this question and often it is recalling what their Catechism teaches. A very simple answer could be from Romans 1.20.

Romans 1.20

20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse

The thing that is always missing in Catholics, whether it is their members or hierarchy is a fundamental understanding of the word of God – we might say the first principles.

In the end of the actual conversation there was only one question unanswered to the satisfaction of this Catholic. The conversation was one of agreement on every point. This is not unusual, because it is difficult to deny scripture for people who have a belief in the bible’s connection to God. The reason for all the agreement leads to the one point of disagreement. Namely, it was a statement, that as Catholics we already believe what was being discussed. The problem is that Catholics do not believe anything I was describing as the truth. Thus there is a need to differentiate their beliefs and the basis for those beliefs from the truth. The Catholic Church has their members in a state of control that limits their open-mindedness. Yet, few believe many of the Catholic doctrines if they differ from their personal preferences. Catholic rule-making has resulted in a great deal of arbitrary teaching and it can and has changed over time. This does not seem to bother Catholics and in fact they expect change as a natural consequence of a changing world. Contrast that with the scriptures that are consistent, unchanging and not in any way arbitrary. God has not left humankind in such a state of uncertainty and confusion. It will always come down to following God in the scriptures or following humankind in their inventions. People can be so risk adverse in the things of life and yet so careless in the only thing that matters – their soul.

Catholicism and all the other human-made religions will not provide heaven. They may provide a temporary comfort for some – but still leave doubts. The truth is much different and in that framework you can find true peace in the security of the scriptures(truth) inasmuch as a person remains faithful.

Other Conversations With Catholics – General Indifference

The author has had many conversations with Catholics and some quite long and on-going. The conversations were always very casual because just about everything was of little concern and considered not all that important. Quite a change from their history. In the frequent case, where there was some issue that could not be answered by accepting, agreeing it was simply put off by saying, “my priest can answer that.” So, in today’s world Catholics believe what they are told religiously, but differ on various things that they do not consider matters of faith. Religiously, it is their attendance at “Mass”, the Eucharist, confession, occasionally the rosary, some good works, and just doing the best they can and believing in the worst case they face purgatory before heaven. They try to avoid the larger sins as they define large (mortal sins), but even those can always be confessed/forgiven. This thinking/rote represents the vast majority of Catholics. The more devout do what they are supposed to and do it more frequently. Nowadays, they also read the bible with guidance and advice on how to view certain scriptures and always the Holy SEE will provide the true interpretation. Quite a few Catholics told me that they did not believe in the Catholic teachings, but their families had a long history and they wanted to maintain the tradition. Some as mentioned, confided that they doubted God’s existence, but just in case Catholicism was probably the best association.

Amazing Attitude Toward God A Low Or Even A Non-Existent Priority

The bottom line for the majority of Catholics is a willingness to follow protocol with little interest in defense of their beliefs. That is why the first subject of discussion is, “there is truth and there is error,” followed by a love of the truth and the meaning/purpose of life. In the conversation with this Catholic these were covered at the beginning with essentially total agreement – even when I contrasted Catholic variances as they applied. The Lord’s people have debated publicly with Catholic priests or bishops and I have read the transcripts. They are all the same inasmuch as the Catholics always wander from the point being discussed into various principles established by their councils or stories of their saints or some other long held views usually quite mysterious. There is a lack of seriousness about the soul and a belief that it is not necessary to defend their beliefs using the scriptures. It is unbelievably ironic that they use four verses (Matthew 16.16-19) as the basis of the Catholic Church – yet care little about scripture. Those verses are terribly massacred and used to steal the authority from God and place it in their hands. God placed the authority in the hands of His Son and these verses place the authority with Christ and Christ only.

We learn three important things from those verses and they are mentioned directly below as well as discussed in some detail in the section that discusses Matthew 16.16-19. These three things are consistent with all scripture and further clarified by Jesus and then by the Holy Spirit. Indeed, even the apostles only partially understood what was revealed to them on this day. The three things were:
1) Jesus was the Son of God
2) Jesus would build His church
3) The apostles would play a part, undefined, but essential
It is amazing, really inconceivable that out of these verses the basis for the physical, rule-making Catholic Church was justified.

Catholicism Is Mysterious, The Truth Is Not

The best approach in dealing with the error of the many religions is to simply preach the word in relation to salvation and answer questions as simply as possible. This is easy since the word of God is simple, direct and fits together perfectly. The religions of the world are filled with the ideas of humankind, complex in their teaching and confusing and often thought of as mysterious.
In Catholicism it is almost doctrinal to believe God works in mysterious ways. It is no wonder Catholics are so indifferent in religious matters. They accept what they are taught, they maintain the “current process,” and those processes become the practical center of their faith. They take for granted that following Catholic ways and acting accordingly will eventually earn them heaven, even if via purgatory.

Note: Why does this author direct an effort to point out error in the various religions? Why not leave people to their own religious beliefs? There is just one ultimate answer and it is the love of each person and consequently for their success in life – achieving eternal life. It is true most people do not care and shut down such discussions and consequently this author reluctantly moves on because there are others who seek truth. In this present age those who will listen with interest are to be commended, because it is not the way of the world.
The scriptures are clear and eventually every person will care and then it will be too late. At death or if a person is alive when Christ returns and in the latter case every knee will bow. Then finally the seriousness of God’s truth will be seen as what should have been the most important thing in their life. Indeed, every knee will bow at Christ’s return and He will be taking those “in Christ” away to eternal life. They are those faithful, those He added to His body, His spiritual church. Then all the religions of humankind will be left with failed lives and without God. So why tell people their “spiritual house is on fire?” Simply because it is obvious from the scriptures and exceedingly more serious than the religions of the world portray. Paul reasoned daily in the school of Tyrannus and this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks (Acts 19). God’s people have various commands in relation to how they live and worship and a single directive in relation to the world. It is simply to preach the word and God has left His very purpose in this last age to those who are “In Christ.” It is the same purpose Jesus stated as to why He came – Luke 19.10 “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Paul said He received the gospel from Christ and would also say that knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men. There is a seriousness about life, obedience to God’s will and about the value of each soul that compels those “In Christ” to SPEAK/WRITE the truth in love. Actually, it is in the process of teaching the truth that error comes to light. The nature of truth exposes error and exposes the doctrines of humankind’s religions because truth is singular. There is one God (the Father), one Lord (Jesus), one Spirit (the Holy Spirit), one Faith, one Baptism, one Hope and one Body (the spiritual church).

THE CONVERSATION

The Subjects:

1) Establishing there is truth and error
2) Love of the Truth AND the meaning of life
3) Understanding of Matthew 16.16-19 AND the church is the kingdom
4) Human Reasoning Leads to Human Religions AND a Specific Question answered AND Authority and Holiness

1)Establishing There Is Truth And Error

Start With The Truth & Who You Should Believe

The truth about life is simple and since Christ there is the gospel message. This message from God is something you should know and it is a simple telling you how to succeed in life. The confusion always comes from men and women, who over the centuries created their own doctrines. My recommendation is that you believe no one, including me. That is another way of saying that you need to understand what you believe. Yes, there is a lot of material at Heaven Coach and largely because the basics about life have been so distorted such that “confusion is king” in the world of religion. Yet, God’s message is simple in terms of what a person must do to achieve heaven. After all the years some people spend in religious study it would be expected they understood God reasonably well. However, when the most fundamental things have been distorted there is typically many new doctrines and by observation the seriousness of life and truth are diminished. The one hope you have is in what God has provided for you, the truth. You can overcome the deceit that you are not even presently aware is deceit. God purposely designed eternal life for those who are NOT proud, NOT selfish, NOT close-minded to the truth, NOT cowards and are able to overcome the obstacles of life choosing God’s way over their own. The first thing they must overcome is the belief they already have the truth. The evidence from God’s word is overwhelming. Also, the foolishness of humankind’s religions in terms of the complexity, its physical nature, and inconsistency makes the truth easily discerned.

My request for this part is that you read “The Gospel Message” and then read “Believe No One.”
Start with the truth as seen in the Gospel Message:

Then come to understand that you must understand for yourself:Believe No One

The next section will be:
1) Love of the truth versus a love of the world and of what WE want!
and
2) What life is all about? – God’s purpose

My appeal is for you to become more knowledgeable about life. Indeed, the things mentioned above as characteristics that God seeks will be needed to overcome the indoctrination of Catholicism. They will be needed to complete this study. Above all, understand what you believe not what someone tells you is the truth – OF COURSE, INCLUDING THIS AUTHOR.

2) Love of the Truth and the meaning of life

Love the Truth Versus Loving the World and Loving What We Want

The religions of the world were invented if they are different than what God has revealed in the scriptures. Anyone can be assured of heaven if they do what God requires to be “In Christ” and then live faithfully.
I can be certain and you can be certain and in the same way, if the scriptures are our only guide.
The “magnitude of Catholic influence” is what you must overcome and it is incredibly easy if you have a love of the truth.
I can do exactly what the scriptures teach and be confident. In Catholicism you do what Catholicism teaches and assume that is what God wants from you. You have a middle man and all the religions “Claiming Christianity” have middle-men. The religion that has no-middle-man (specifically ‘middle men” bringing believe me, trust me) passes the first test that it is the truth. God’s people bring the message, but point you to the scriptures and to understand them and not be coerced by anything, anyone except the word of God. There needs to be a love of the truth such that you will accept nothing less than the truth. Finally, there is a realization that God has provided in the scriptures a perfect document where all things fit perfectly together in agreement with His purpose. The people who help others to the truth do not stand in the middle with their own doctrines, but point you to the scriptures and your need to understand the truth. You must be convinced by the scriptures. A good preacher, teacher will speak as the oracles of God realizing there can be no private interpretation and in that process the one instructing should be fearful, and deeply concerned about rightly dividing the word of God.

Regardless of the religious belief, all that is necessary is to follow the scriptures. So, we see the scriptures saying – preach the word. The scriptures never say to follow this person or that, this group or that.

2 Timothy 4.2

2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

The emphasis – Preach the word!

2 Timothy 2.15

15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

The emphasis – Rightly Divide The Word!

2 Timothy 3.16,17

16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

A person ought to be able to see that the emphasis is on God’s word. The message from God is to preach the word, rightly divide the word of truth, and the scriptures are the only way to receive instruction in righteousness.

Here is the middle-man justification (Matthew 16.16-19) for Catholicism and it is sadly believed. The middle-man for Catholicism is their priests and pope and so-on – their hierarchy. The gospel message is from God to you, no middle-man needed. Any sort of serious consideration of these verses leads to the truth about God, Christ and the church (the spiritual body of Christ) and not to Roman Catholicism.
Matthew 16.16-19 is Catholicism to Catholics, although it says nothing about anything that is the Catholic Church. The entirety of the bible has no concept of anything like the Catholic Church. The principles of the scriptures point to the exact opposite of what Catholicism is today or ever was since its inception. The bible emphasizes as a necessity a love of the truth in terms of a successful life.

2 Thessalonians 2. 10-12

10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Does a Catholic know they need a love of the truth? They likely do not, but might say the Catholic Church is the truth and they love that truth. The very idea of loving the truth includes a diligent searching for the truth, not being told this or that is the truth and accepting it.
So, it was just mentioned that any sort of serious study of Matthew 16.16-19 leads to the truth about God, Christ and the church. The next section does a deep dive into these verses and it will be seen that the truth of these verses is perfectly consistent with all scripture and exactly fits God’s purpose.
Consequently, accepting Catholicism on the basis of Matthew 16.16-19 is having a love of:

 What you currently believe
 What you were taught
 What you want to believe
 What may be convenient
 What so many of your family and friends died believing

Did you accept Catholicism because you had a love of the truth? Can you say, I want the truth more than anything else no matter if it will be painful? This is the person that God wants. In fact this is the only person God will accept.
Throughout the scriptures, nothing is as condemned as changing the word of God. One place where Paul (led by Christ, Galatians 1.11,12) makes this clear is in Galatians 1.

Galatians 1.6-9

6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,
7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

The Catholic Church is all about making and changing the rules, changing the gospel. The net result is, “what Jesus died for will not benefit those who have a different gospel.”

A short, but clear and revealing page called, “Adam, Eve, the Devil and the Purpose of Life” can be very helpful in gaining this most important understanding about life.

I use some abbreviated ways of describing what life is all about, like:

 Life is about the soul
 Life is about the battle between good and evil
 Life is very personally about your battle with sin

The world, the religions of the world define life in terms of various physical successes and failures. Jesus came into a world where the Jews had replaced God’s ways with their traditions. Their belief was that the coming Messiah would rule with them over the nations. It seems that power, ruling, authority is something associated with the religions of humankind. If there god is really God, surely they should have the authority over all others. So when Christ came, He was not what they wanted – indeed He was the Messiah bringing a spiritual kingdom. People claim they hear from God – can you imagine how special you are hearing from God. You can lead others, how powerful. Islam wants to bring the world into submission to their god, Allah. Catholicism to have control sought and usually gained control over governments. They did it in the most paranoid, deceitful and cruel violent manner beyond the imagination for a decent, caring person. If the Catholics of the present time viewed those actions, they could in no way associate with Catholicism. Here is Christ, coming to establish a kingdom not of this world, but infinitely more powerful since that kingdom was the answer to a spiritual problem. The power over others, the possessing of many things that people consider so valuable is meaningless. Religions seize the opportunity to realize the power and prominence brought by religion. Here is Christ, who was God and in the beginning with God and so different humbling Himself before the Father in obedience. Going to the cross to suffer the terrible death – not much power in that from a human perspective. His kingdom, we learn was the church and would be the spiritual body of Christ.
Here comes the falling away and out of many years comes the Catholic Church and of course it must be a physical organization, making rules, ruling over people. During those early times much of the Catholic Church was defined and it should be no surprise that those doctrines are on every point, in every aspect in opposition to God’s purpose. The cost will be the souls of many millions, really many billions of people. Of course, we are often talking about the souls of what the world would define as good people. Kind, considerate people willing to sacrifice themselves in various ways to demonstrate their concern for others. Perhaps the most fundamental thing religion can bring to a person is the knowledge that life is about the soul and God is the God of the bible. God wants you to know about His judgment, about how your sin will keep you from succeeding and of course how to rid yourself of sin. Is this the message from the religion you follow? When you follow God’s way, all the other things in life fall in place. The character of God’s children allows them to grow such that they are pleasing God every day.

Life’s Brevity, Today Is The Day Of Salvation, Overcoming Indoctrination

One of things that should drive us to truth is the fact that we have so little time, our lifetime and that can end at any time. The end will come for us either by our death or God determines to have Christ return at the end of time. God seems to be telling us about this need to be aware of life’s brevity. He says, “Today is the day of salvation” because we may not have tomorrow. He refers to life as a vapor, as a vapor that is there one moment and then gone. He urges us to seek Him with all of our body, soul and spirit. To think that we would allow any person or organization to keep us from seeking God, seeking truth is a very poor decision on our part. When an organization like Catholicism points you toward their doctrine to the point you may feel guilty to think of other possibilities it is a very big warning sign. This is what the world’s religions do to various extents and even differently throughout their individual histories. Catholicism is a perfect example of a religion that goes as far as it can to keep their indoctrinated masses, to “keep them in line.” Early on they used terror as seen in their paranoid torture/murdering of those who opposed and at times that resulted in attempts to exterminate certain groups. As time passed, there was a gradual evolution to an organization that maintains their adherents by a peaceful appearance of helping others. Catholicism is not all that different from other religions. Islam still works first from fear of physical harm, but more so today a fear of being isolated from family and community.
God’s people are not concerned about the doctrines of the world influencing them. God’s word provides the truth and in comparison the religious inventions of humankind are weak, usually silly and do not fit perfectly together, they are easily refuted.
The next topic is crucial to Catholics and is an understanding of Matthew 16.16-19.
Matthew 16.16-19 are important verses – but they in no way validate Catholicism, but the opposite.
Secondly, the associated subject of the kingdom.
That is, gaining an understanding of the Church Jesus spoke of and that it is the kingdom – He spoke of.

My advice to the reader is for you to become more knowledgeable about life. Indeed, the things mentioned above as characteristics (humility, unselfishness, love of the truth and so-on) that God seeks will be needed to overcome the effective indoctrination of Catholicism. They will be needed to carefully complete this study. Above all, understand what you believe and not what someone tells you is the truth.

3) Understanding of Matthew 16.16-19 and the Church is the Kingdom

Matthew 16.16-19 are important verses – but let me repeat they in no way validate Catholicism, but the opposite.

Matthew 16.16-19 – The meaning

Matthew 16.16-19

16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

The meaning is clear and it is simply that Peter’s declaration, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” came from God the Father and then Peter spoke it. Then Jesus reveals that He will build His church and it will be built on the fact that He is the Son of God. He refers to Peter’s statement as the rock upon which He will build His church. The church will be built on the most solid thing and that rock is Jesus. It is Peter’s statement and not Peter and of course, that is exactly what the church, which is spiritual, is based on. Believing on Jesus as the Son of God, confessing Jesus as the Son of God. The whole of what follows as the church comes into being on that basis. Peter preaches Jesus as God’s Son in Acts 2 and the Lord adds the obedient to His church. How is it possible to teach that Peter can be the head of the church? Since, Genesis 3.15, it has been planned for Jesus to come through the lineage as specified and suffer and die and be resurrected and on that basis the sacrifice required is completed and those obedient to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus can be reconciled to God.

God Reveals Everything In The Right Time According To His Purpose

It was the right moment and God the Father reveals to Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and Peter provides this in answer to the question from Jesus. This was the revelation that has been awaited since Genesis 3.15 and now it is known to man, specifically to the apostles. It is not the moment to name a man (upon this rock) to be what salvation would be built upon. You see the church is built on Jesus, the Messiah, the one who will pay the price. “Upon This ROCK, I Will Build My Church.” It is Jesus, who will build His church, built on humankind’s acknowledgement of Christ just as Peter had done. It would be Jesus, who would be the one to be the perfect sacrifice and the one to add those to His spiritual body, the church. It is preposterous, ridiculous, illogical and against all scripture to suggest that Peter is the one upon whom the church is built – “upon Peter, I will build My church????” Additionally, it is totally in opposition to God and His purpose and thus exactly what God hates – deceit, lies.

In verse 18 we learn that Jesus will build His church and later we will see Jesus is the head, although that is obvious from these verses. The only authority over the church is Christ, He is the head of the body, His spiritual body. Peter is never mentioned in this context, but is a fellow elder in a local church.
The following verses place Jesus over His church – there is never any other rule in the scriptures.

Ephesians 1.22,23

22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 4.4-6

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Colossians 1.18

18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

In verse 19 of Matthew 16, Jesus is laying the groundwork for the message that will come after His death. The message will come to the apostles through the Holy Spirit. We will learn HOW Jesus will build His church.

John 16.13

13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

The Keys To The Kingdom

The role of the apostles is described as, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” The apostles do not understand this, but Jesus teaches them shortly thereafter in the verses above, i.e. John 16.13 and so-on they will bring the message provided by the Holy Spirit to the world. The Catholic invention/assumption without any support and in violation of everything God has revealed to humankind is that the apostles can create the rules (themselves) that provide what to follow. It is beyond bad interpretation, it is the most blasphemous of all possible concepts and in fact it never happens in that way, but the Holy Spirit provides the will of God to the apostles. It is not the will of the apostles. The scriptures go on to reveal that the Holy Spirit completes His mission and all that pertains to life and godliness has been revealed. This is referred to by God as when that which is perfect has come that which in part will be done away. God’s word has been completed and the signs and miracles (that which is in part) used to confirm the word of God in the first century are no longer needed. Thus, the truth of God’s word is all that man needs and in fact the only things of value.

There is great clarity in Matthew 16.16-19 in terms of its meaning and the evidence is throughout the scriptures. A Catholic should wonder why this concept of Peter being the head of the church is never remotely alluded to in any way in the scriptures. Peter, never assumes such a role, but is an elder in the church at Jerusalem. In order to be an elder, he needed to be the husband of one wife and we see from scripture that he was married.
The obvious conclusion is that the idea of Peter being the head of the church originated from man. In fact, the organization that evolved as the Catholic Church is a PHYSICAL church that provided (and still provides today) vast power, wealth and comfort to groups of unscrupulous men. It would become the most paranoid and cruel organization ever known during the time of their “world dominance.” In consideration of its long and on-going influence over its members it could tagged the most evil of all organizations. The evil extends beyond its own borders into the frustrations with Catholicism that led to beginning many other false religions. Catholicism appears to its members as having association with God and yet there is no excuse for believing such a thing.

1 Peter 5:1

1 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed:

If Peter knew anything about being the leader of the church, he might have revealed it, but instead he reveals he is a fellow elder or bishop. He was not being modest, God revealed the mystery that was in existence since the time of Adam and Eve and throughout all the prophets. It had nothing to do with Peter (or any person), but detailed God’s plan to save through Christ.

Ephesians 3.9-11

9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;
10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,
11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,

God’s purpose was accomplished in Christ and it was a spiritual purpose related to the reconciliation of humankind achieved by a means to have their past sins forgiven. The church is first spiritual with Christ as head and Jesus via the Holy Spirit provided the word of God. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God is able to divide truth from error. The local church is physical with a well defined, simple organization and purpose.

Catholicism Is In Complete Opposition To God’s Will And It is So Obvious

Peter in Rome? There are endless problems to justify Catholicism. In a time when all was being revealed by God through the Holy Spirit in the first century; Catholicism, its pope and its teachings are all missing.
Somehow, Catholicism has to get Peter to Rome to be its bishop. Yet, there is no biblical account of Peter being at Rome. When Paul is writing to the Romans, he addresses everyone he knows to be there in chapter 16, oddly enough, Peter is missing. Peter was the apostle to the Jews (Gal. 2:7-8) while Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles (Rom. 11:13). If Christians were to follow any apostle, it should be the one who wrote the letter to them – ROMANS! – Paul, not Peter.
Peter wrote from Babylon (1 Peter 5:13). Catholics try to say that this is a “secret code word” for “Rome.” This does not make sense. Peter’s bones are not in Rome (Vatican) under Jupiter’s throne like Catholicism promulgates. Peter’s bones were supposedly found in Jerusalem and that would be logical – although it is not a bible revelation and thus like so many things not important.
Peter was married (1 Cor. 9:5; Matt. 8:14) which we all know does not make for a good Pope.
Also, 1 Timothy 3:2-4 makes the papacy and the catholic clergy look pretty bad and 1 Tim. 4:1-4 identifies Catholic or Catholic-like doctrine as “doctrines of devils.” Many believe this is a reference to Catholicism that was to come, but I am not sure although it fits.

1 Timothy 3:2-4

2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach;
3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous;
4 one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence

God’s qualification for a bishop (elder) are given above and for one thing they must be the husband of one wife and have children in submission with all reverence.

1 Timothy 4.1-4

1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,
2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,
3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;

The part that is particularly damaging in addition to forbidding to marry and abstaining from certain foods is the searing of conscience, which I find consistent with the Catholic doctrine of mental reservation. Of course, today Catholics typically would not know of “mental reservation,” but it was a powerful tool used to allow lying in defense of the un-defend-able Catholic doctrine.

How Obvious It Should Be

Catholicism is obvious in error, in opposition to the word of God and it should be clear to anyone who cares. Jesus came to solve a spiritual problem, namely that of sin to reconcile humanity back to God. It required a spiritual solution and it would be the spiritual church built on His death, burial and resurrection. God provided a spiritual message, the word of God delivered by the Holy Spirit. God adds the obedient to His church (Acts 2.47). Throughout the first century after the beginning of the church (in Acts 2), the Holy Spirit gradually defines a local, independent group of Christians to work and worship together. Qualifications for elders and deacons are given and worship is defined and must be in spirit and truth. The mission of the local church is defined and what is authorized is provided. The principles of how a Christian is to live are included in what Jesus delivered in relation to the kingdom such as the responsibility to help those who need help (Matthew 25.35-45). The Holy Spirit delivered the things that represent the characteristics a person must avoid and the ones they should seek and referred to them as the fruit of the Spirit and the works of the flesh (Galatians 5.19-25). Jesus pointed out that a person to live a peaceful life was to give to Caesar what was Caesar’s and to God what was God’s. The opposite of all that God in Christ and the Holy Spirit delivered is seen in the Catholic Church. The church, the kingdom is primarily spiritual and only has a spiritual mission as Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world. Yet people were in the kingdom after Acts 2, that is they were added to the church by the Lord, translated into the kingdom (Mark 9.1, Colossians 1.13). The Catholic organization is fundamentally physical and completely different than God designed. The most serious aspect of error is that God’s people live by the spiritual message delivered by the Holy Spirit and the Catholic Church is a rule-making body of men. Obvious, well yes as we see historically a power hungry, paranoid organization physically threatening people who do not follow their rule in direct opposition to the individuals making the free will choice to follow after Christ and the gospel and live as defined by Christ and by the Holy Spirit. We see the Catholic Church seeking power over nations and even achieving it for well over a thousand years. Contrast that to the spiritual body of Christ living to avoid sin and teach the simple gospel message. The children of God are to live in cooperation with the local authorities over them as long as it does not require them to sin. The rule Catholicism achieved over nations was to have them do their bidding, which was always threatening and typically involved capturing, torturing and killing the Catholic heretics.

There was certainly going to be a falling away from the simple gospel truths, and Catholicism was just one group “down the road” from what was already happening in the first century. They created a “well oiled machine” that survived via its claim to represent God and by the extent they were willing to ruthlessly go to achieve and maintain their power.

Catholicism – Keeping You from Heaven

The Catholic Church claims Peter in a continuous line of Popes from Peter to the present. Factually, this is not true. The apostles were given the keys to the kingdom, Matthew 16:19. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter and the other eleven apostles received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:1-4. Peter and the eleven stood up and preached the Gospel of Christ, Acts 2:14. Peter spoke with no more or less authority than any of the other apostles. The first Pope did not exist until 588 A.D. when John the Faster claimed the office of Universal Bishop of the church. He was denounced when Gregory the Great wrote, “whosoever adopts or affects the title of universal bishop has the pride and character of anti-Christ, and is in some manner his forerunner in this haughty quality of elevating himself above the rest of his order.” In 606 A.D. Boniface III was recognized as the Universal Bishop or Pope. There is no successive line of Popes from Peter to the present. One the things that strangely holds Catholicism together is the extent of the lies and deceit. How can it be that everything is a lie? Nonetheless, the deceit is real and done to maintain the power of unscrupulous men over their followers, over Catholics. The scriptures are what God has left us to sort through all lies and into truth.

The organization of the Catholic Church cannot be found in the Bible. On the Day of Pentecost 3,000 were baptized into Christ, Acts 2:41. Those baptized were added to the church by the Lord (Acts 2:47). There is no human intervention involved in being added to the church. How can that be? Well, very important because in obedience you are added to the Spiritual Body of Christ. All the talk of churches among humankind involves a physical church and often is really a reference to a building. There is a physical church, but it consists of only those added to the Spiritual body by the Lord. On that first day when persons were able to enter the kingdom (the church) the pattern provided by the God through the Holy Spirit to the apostles was realized. Now, for some strange reason that pattern, which was repeated numerous times throughout the first century has been modified by men/women and consequently is meaningless. The human processes of Catholicism and Protestantism are different – a different gospel. Jesus still adds each obedient soul to His body just as He did in Acts 2. This process is Holy, it is the gospel message, it can be called obeying the gospel. It is exactly what Paul lamented was being changed and attached the appropriate warning in Galatians 1.6-9.

As persecution arose, Christians were dispersed and went throughout Judea and Samaria preaching the Gospel, Acts 8:1. People obeying in Judea and Samaria were added to the body of Christ. They were added to the saved, the universal spiritual church, which is not the same organization as the Catholic Church. The church Christ established is composed of Christians. Those people met with other Christians in forming local congregations. We read of the church at Ephesus, Corinth, Philippi, and other places. Each congregation was autonomous. This means they functioned independently from other congregations. They had their own elders (Acts 14:23), treasury (I Corinthians 16.1-2), members (I Peter 5:2), and work. It was not until later that man started to join local congregations together, thereby creating an organization larger than the local congregation. The organization of the Catholic Church consists of priests, bishops, cardinals, and a Pope, where the Cardinals are over the Bishops and the bishop over the priests and the Pope is over the “Universal Church.” Such an organization cannot be found in the Bible. Thus, Catholicism conveniently makes the rule that there are two roads to truth and one is the scriptures and the other is the Catholic Church.
The bible and the bible alone contains the Law of Christ. The Catholic Church teaches that its traditions are equal to the Bible. The decree of its councils and its Pope is of greater importance than the Bible, resulting in many practices and doctrines foreign to the Bible. Some of those teachings are; praying to and worshiping Mary as the Mother of God, celibacy of their priesthood, transubstantiation, venial and mortal sins, purgatory, the perpetual virginity of Mary, and a host of other teachings. What does the Bible say about these things? Jesus had siblings (Matthew 12:46-47); therefore Mary did not remain a virgin. No one prayed to or worshiped Mary in the Bible. All Christians are part of the priesthood of Christ, I Peter 2:9. It is wrong to add to or take away from what has been revealed in the Bible, Revelation 22:18-19. In short, one must either accept the Bible or the Catholic Church, but one cannot have both.

Much of what is discussed here and more can be found at – http://catholicsquestion.com/ and even considerably more detail is in the book, “What Is Life All About?” in Chapter 16.2 and then more in Appendix 6.

The Church Is The Kingdom Jesus Spoke Of When He Said The Kingdom Of God Is At Hand. The Kingdom Was The Subject of His Parables. This Is An Understanding That Will Be Very Helpful To Your Conversion, To You Living Your Life For Christ And The Gospel.

It does seem appropriate that following Jesus defining His church and how it is also His Body, that we discuss the church as the kingdom. Jesus came preaching the kingdom of God is at hand and then announces He will build His church. We will learn that the kingdom is the church. In the process of coming to this understanding we see how this refutes the ideas of Catholicism as well as Protestantism. The idea of a physical head of a physical church is not part of God’s plan. There is a local church, but it has no local head, just the elders who SERVE consistent with the word of God. The following chart shows that the church was prophesied and how in the New Testament there was fulfillment. The church prophesied and then realized is nothing like the Catholic Church. The leadership is singular and that is Christ and the rule is the word of God.
The kingdom is prophesied in the Old Testament and then fulfilled in the New Testament as the church. There is no indication of an earthy rule, only Christ. There is a gradual revelation of a local physical church consisting of those who are in the spiritual body of Christ. This local church is not a rule making body, but follows only the scriptures and is organized as defined by the Holy Spirit. There are local churches, but no central church.

Old Testament prophecies/promises related to the kingdom and their fulfillment in the New Testament

In the fulfillment of prophecy above, the church and its nature, leadership, rule and of course how to be in the church are defined. Again there is no human rule – that was never part of God’s plan, but only Christ as head and the word of truth as the rule. Consequently, you need follow no person and can be 100% certain because God is guiding you.
The world, and often the religions of the world define life in terms of various physical successes and failures. In truth, life needs to be defined in terms of spiritual success or failure since life is about the soul. Jesus came into a world where the Jews had replaced God’s ways with their traditions – many physical traditions. The Jewish thought was that the Messiah would come and the Jews would rule over the nations and particularly at that time overcome the Roman rule.
The claim that God was working through human leadership was powerful and allowed Catholicism to gain influence over nations. There was a period of many hundreds of years where certain nations did the bidding of Rome, of the Roman Pontiff. These were bloody and fearful times. Roman Catholicism exerted pressure and control over kings and monarchs to the point of having governments do their bidding. At times this included assisting them in the capture, torture and murder of their enemies, those called heretical. One of the threats was that of ex-communication meaning their souls would be lost and another was cleverly designed schemes where nations would be outside the nations favored by Rome. The Middle-Ages (500 to 1500 AD) was the period where Roman Catholicism would become this dominant influence in the world. It was gradual beginning sometime after the first pope in 606 AD and carrying through the Middle-Ages and into the 1800’s with a gradually declining influence remaining to this day. In the Middle-Ages all classes of people were profoundly affected by the Catholic Church. Their rules, laws and control over nations was quite amazing. It is a picture of how paranoid persons act in trying to maintain their power and the extent they will go to unashamedly go about delivering evil to those who oppose or question. Nothing was considered “off limits” to establish their authority and maintain their proud and selfish lifestyles. Taxes were required in order to receive everlasting life. There was an on-going indoctrination of Catholics, especially children.

Catholicism maintained their influence in the most paranoid, deceitful, cruel and violent manner, which is beyond imagination for a decent, caring person. That control was both physically threatening (murders, torture) and “spiritually” threatening as in the latter case people had come to believe that they could be denied heaven if excommunicated from the Holy See. If the Catholics of the present time viewed those actions, they could in no way associate with Catholicism. During those times much of the Catholic Church was defined and it should be no surprise that those doctrines are in every point, in every aspect in opposition to God’s purpose – opposite to the Doctrine of Christ. The availability of the scriptures would bring an end to the Catholic influence over nations. The superstition, mystery, invented miracles and practices could easily be seen as from man and not God. Their grip over people which combined spiritual and physical threats was being incinerated.

France, Spain, England and others had participated in doing the will of the “Holy See.” It was a major change for those countries and their people as they broke away from the Roman Catholic reign of control and terror. The influence of Catholicism over nations remains in certain places in the world and to some extent to this day. Catholicism thrives in the religious sense, but ever-lessening in its domination over individuals.

The real damage has been and continues to be to the souls of many millions, really many billions of people. Of course today, we are talking about the souls of what the world would define as good people. Kind, considerate people willing to sacrifice themselves in various ways to demonstrate their concern for others. The leadership of Catholicism still desires to exercise control over nations and has tried to be seen as a peace maker to the world. Now their popes travel to bring a message of hope, peace, warning to their own membership, but also to the world as they seek to once again grow and influence. More and more their leaders will change the Catholic rules to appeal to the world religiously, but their influence will always fall short of what it was because the world has the word of God. The kingdom Jesus spoke of was not of this world, but it was the church He built and over which He is the only head. Roman Catholicism succeeded originally by fear and terror and inquisitions and power-brokering with nations and later to this day by providing what people want. Even in the days of the prophets of God, the people wanted a real physical leader and Catholicism provides a pope and physical organization. Today Catholicism still provides the physical church and organization with its grandeur, mystery and guarantees of heaven. Seldom have people been satisfied with God’s way. The exception is those who love the truth and to them that which is to come is more important than what is now. It is exceedingly more important to obey God than man. These people enjoy the ability to see the wisdom of God’s ways, the certainty of His promises and His love as seen in Christ. Indeed, it is a spiritual kingdom.

The most fundamental thing religion can bring to a person is the knowledge that life is about the soul. God wants you to know about His judgment, about how your sin will keep you from succeeding and of course how to rid yourself of sin. Is this the message from the religion you follow? When you follow God’s way, all the other things in life fall in place. The character of God’s children (humility, dedication to truth) allows them to grow and please God every day.

Leave The “Physical” Religions of Humankind While You Have Time

One of things that should drive us to truth is the fact that we have so little time, our lifetime and that can end at any time. Either our death or when God determines to have Christ return at the end of time. God is telling us about this need to be aware of life’s brevity. He says, “Today is the day of salvation” because we may not have tomorrow. He refers to life as a vapor, as a vapor that is there one moment and then gone. He urges us to seek Him with all of our body, soul and spirit. To think that we would allow any person or organization to keep us from seeking God, seeking truth is a very poor decision on our part. When an organization like Catholicism points you toward their doctrine to the point you may feel guilty to think of other possibilities it is a very big warning sign. This is what the world’s religions do to various extents and even differently throughout their histories. Catholicism is a perfect example of a religion that goes as far as it can to keep their indoctrinated masses, to “keep them in line.” Early on they used terror as seen in their paranoid torture/murdering of those who opposed and that often led to mass murder of groups such as the Huguenots and Albigenses. As time passed, there was a gradual evolution to an organization that maintains their adherents by a peaceful appearance of helping others. Catholicism is not all that different from other religions. Islam still works first from fear of physical harm and fear of being isolated from family and community.
God’s people are not concerned about the doctrines of the world influencing them. God’s word provides the truth and in comparison the religious inventions of humankind, which are weak, usually silly and do not fit perfectly together, they are easily refuted.
There is more to be found at:

The next and final conversation was:
Human reasoning leads to human religion
Answering a specific question and
Authority and Holiness

My request is for you to become more knowledgeable about life. Indeed, the things mentioned above as characteristics (humility, unselfishness, love of the truth, courage) that God seeks are needed to help overcome the effective indoctrination of Catholicism. Above all, understand what you believe not what someone tells you is the truth.

This Section Covers Human reasoning leads to human religion
and A specific question answered
and Authority and Holiness

These are the final conversation topics in relation to heaven and specifically Catholicism. In between, the only argument made by this Catholic will be discussed. First, human reasoning leads to human religion and then, “Authority and Holiness.” Both are important for you to better understand God in the only way God can be understood – namely, in what He has revealed about Himself. God did not leave us in the dark on these things and as we better understand God so we better understand the scriptures and vice-versa. We might ask ourselves, why the scriptures teach this or that. God in revealing Himself provided information, which helps us to better fit together the whole of the scriptures. God and from our viewpoint God’s word are the only place to go for answers. I can write about many things spiritual, but only can do so correctly and acceptably (to God) if I am consistent with His word. The bottom line is do you trust what people say/claim in relation to God or do you trust what God promised to deliver and did deliver as the truth.

4) Human Reasoning Leads to Human Religion

The one thing that brings error is when men and/or women teach their ideas to explain spiritual matters. How could they know? In some cases they use the bible as their authority, but mishandle by inputting their ideas, their better ways of doing spiritual things. God has defined all things we need to know and consistently explains their importance. He has done this in exactly the best way to achieve HIS purpose. God is accurate and tells His children to be accurate.

Ephesians 5.15-17

15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Circumspectly is the idea of accuracy, walking, speaking wisely in agreement with the scriptures. Why? Because the days are evil, in other words the days we have fool us into thinking we have tomorrow when we may not. Potentially, after one is lost he or she may think they did not have enough time. Certainly, if you find yourself in the lost condition the days are looked at as evil – that is, given more time you might have got it right. God makes no mistakes and you had your chance and indeed YOU chose poorly. Thus, during your brief time on earth you need to walk accurately in relation to the scriptures and not carefully in the religions invented by humankind. It is so sad that people do carefully follow the doctrines of their human-made religions even at times dying for the deceit they have been taught.
If you take any of the religions that associate themselves with the bible, they all came after God completed His revelation (although we see that error was already being developed during the time the truth was being revealed – Galatians 1.6-9). God declared His revelation to be “that which is perfect.” Peter knew the revelation was complete when he wrote:

2 Peter 1.2-4

2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Jude wrote that the revelation was once for all delivered to the saints.

Jude 1.3

3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

Paul warned that the gospel was not to be changed.

Galatians 1.6-9

6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,
7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

So since (and somewhat during) the first century, we have many groups claiming Christ in association with their different gospel and yet nothing was needed or acceptable beyond what was delivered. A Catholic must realize that since their church, their doctrines are not in the bible they must claim the right to speak for God. Their apologists like those of Islam, Protestantism and others work hard to create something “reasonably sounding.” There is no pope in the bible and essentially ALL of Catholic doctrine is in opposition to the scriptures. I use the word essentially, because few would believe ALL, 100% of Catholic doctrine is in error – but it is. One might say that Catholics believe in Jesus as the Christ, but so do Protestants and others – even the devils believe and tremble.

James 2:19

19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!

Jesus explains the qualification for belief in Matthew.

Matthew 7.21

21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

Again, put another way in relation to truly being in Christ, John writes:

2 John 1.9

9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.

God associates “having Christ and God” with abiding in the doctrine of Christ. So, many religious groups claim to believe in Christ, but few abide in His doctrine. Therefore, they do not have Christ!

Answering a specific Catholic’s question

This question is more of a statement in response to teaching the gospel. The response is “all the things you mentioned in relation to the scriptures are things we already know and believe.” Thus being a Catholic, we already have this knowledge and belief system. There is a very nonchalant attitude held by Catholics and it comes from not taking God (God’s word) seriously. There is almost a frivolous attitude held by the Catholic Hierarchy as though the rules are theirs to make and God will go along. They won’t say that last part, but their attitude and belief as seen in their actions assumes God is compliant with their teachings.
God provides people with a free will and expects them to reason about everything – EXCEPT when it comes to matters of the truth about life, which cannot be reasoned without God’s help. Make no mistake, God has provided the answers you need and they will not come via your own insight or that of any person. Your reasoning plays a part as you see how God’s word fits all things pertaining to life and godliness together perfectly. You can see God’s existence in His creation and that is often the starting point. In this matter of finding truth you need to be humble and follow the infinite wisdom of the creator. Adam and Eve and shortly thereafter Cain would decide to do things their way and they were wrong and God did not accept their “inventions.” They were reasoning that there could be a better way than God’s way or that they could substitute their will for God’s direction. You or I do not have a better way than God. God is not only right about everything, logical about everything, but also provides all that is needed to succeed and never, never, never accepts the ideas of men and or women in relation to spiritual matters. This is the bottom line, the whole point in terms of what you need to understand – this is the essence of life’s test and it is that you can do things God’s way or your way.

How can anyone discern truth unless it is revealed to them? God provided a way to eternal life and it is via the truth. Jesus referred to Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life and continued saying no one comes to the Father except through Him. One of the most grievous of things to God is the teaching of error in spiritual matters. There are seven things God hates and four of them relate to lies, misleading others. The character of God is revealed throughout the bible and it is consistent in relationship to the holiness of God. God compares humankind to Himself as follows:

Isaiah 55.9

9 “For the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Even the simplest of instructions must be carried out precisely. Nadab and Abihu decided to change the fire they were to burn and the record is clear it was not acceptable and God took their lives. Naaman was to go to a certain river and dip seven times (for leprosy cure), but wondered why it could not be a cleaner river. Throughout the Old Law there are many examples of people making this change or that and how this is not acceptable. These lessons were for our learning and God continually makes the point about obedience in relation to acceptability.

Romans 15.4

4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

In this verse, God indicates we can learn a great deal from those things written in the original covenant. We can understand God in a way that the revelations of the new covenant (the law of Christ, which we live under) are perfectly logical and consistent.

The magnitude of the error of Catholicism is so great in terms of doing THE VILEST THING and God reveals that is lying about the TRUTH. God’s purpose relates to your success and that requires truth in terms of obedience and living according to the doctrine of Christ. Anyone with a love of the truth more than a love of what they currently believe can find the truth, obey it, live it and in the process realize eternal life.

So, saying you already believe what the scriptures teach is not surprising. It is difficult to deny the logic of God, so one agrees. The scriptures fit perfectly together in describing God’s plan, God’s purpose and there is no acceptable variance. When God describes how something is to be done that eliminates all other ways of doing that thing.
God provided a way for humankind to be reconciled back to Him. He delivered that message just as Jesus indicated by the Holy Spirit to the apostles. People were saved from their past sins and added to the Kingdom by the Lord. The work of the Holy Spirit was completed and now we have that message or as the scriptures indicate, “That which is perfect.” It has been completed and the things that accompanied it such as miracles, signs and various gifts of the Holy Spirit are no longer needed. So, God in His wisdom has left the world with the truth. If you want to be united with God and Christ you must abide in the doctrine of Christ.

The doctrine of Christ knows nothing of Catholicism. The pope or holy man of Catholicism is honored in special ways even being the Vicar of Christ. Is that true? No man is to be revered. Protestant ministers are called reverend, but this is wrong. It is fundamentally wrong – all honor in spiritual matters belongs to God and no one else. We are mere men and Peter knew this of himself.

Acts 10:26

But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I myself am also a man.”

A Catholic might nonchalantly say Peter was just being humble. Peter knew no man deserves honor in Spiritual matters and was careful in his speech. There was one who John wrote unfavorably of in the church named Diotrephes who sought to be over others.

3 John 1.9

9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us.

People have been using the name of Christ to gain power and there is no thought of truth or the awful consequences of deceit.

If you follow or support Catholicism you are not aligned with God and Christ. Catholics can say they follow the scriptures, but their doctrines are in opposition to the truth in every matter. The world is filled with people who believe they are followers of God and many groups claim they follow the bible. Saying you follow Christ and the scriptures is quite different than following Christ and the scriptures.

Authority and Holiness

This is a subject that can help some people. It is likely that one understands all authority belongs to God and God is Holy. God explains this in a way that humankind can make the right decisions. Specifically, after Jesus death, burial and resurrection Jesus tells His disciples that He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

Matthew 28.18-20

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

The Holy Spirit sent from God is not speaking of His own authority, but is given what to say. Considering the Holy Spirit is not speaking of His own authority, do you really believe God has relinquished authority in spiritual matters to any human being or group of people?

John 16.13

13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

The things of God are only known by God and over time He has revealed certain things otherwise unknowable to humankind. God has provided His knowledge at various times, in various ways since the beginning such as directly, in dreams, through prophets and now in this last age through His Son.

Hebrews 1.1,2

1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

The apostles asked Jesus after His resurrection from the dead and just before He was taken up to heaven about the future. In Acts 1 He provides the answer and tells them again (as for instance in John 16.13) how the Spirit of God will lead them into truth so they can be witnesses.

Acts 1.6-8

6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Jesus defines how the knowledge will come to them and it is not via some man, but directly from God, through His Holy Spirit. The apostles would be receiving the KEYS TO THE KINGDOM and they now know how and that the time is near for the Spirit to come. They were to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until they are endued with power from on high.

Regarding the future Jesus tells them that it was not for them to know the times and seasons. Furthermore, Jesus had told the apostles earlier before His death, burial and resurrection that the time of the end is held only by the Father – even Jesus does not know.

Mark 13.32

32 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

As mentioned, we only understand God and the things of life by the scriptures inasmuch as they are revealed. God will bring an end to all physical things and the Son will be directed to return to get the church both living and dead.

Note: You might wonder about those before Christ and the church, but fear not God takes care of all things – perfectly. God has graciously addressed this subject in the scriptures and some help can be found at a page of the Heaven Coach website – Judgment of souls before the gospel of Christ.

There is absolutely no place for rules, ideas, concepts, directions in spiritual matters to originate except from God. Humankind in this last age is dependent on the word of God – it is God’s message, God’s way. God has revealed that heaven and earth will pass away, but not His word.

Matthew 24:35

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

Note: So many people do not believe we have the truth today because there must be problems in translations, lost documents, the things handled by humankind will be filled with errors and so-on. God says His words will not pass away and there are indeed many things we may not understand, but God does what He says. We do not understand creation, but we are here. You want evidence, then read the scriptures and see how all things fit perfectly together and are aligned with God’s purpose. We have the word of God as He promised.

Catholicism teaches they can make and change the rules, but this has never been God’s way. One thing that would help to clarify truth from error would be to understand that humankind cannot speak for God. From the beginning those who have chosen to speak, think or act on their own in spiritual matters are in opposition to God’s will have been condemned. The scriptures tell us how to speak and it is as the oracles of God (1 Peter 4.11) that is, God-breathed speech and specifically the word of God. God receives no praise or honor in ways INVENTED to honor Him. Essentially, the whole of God’s test has to do with conforming to the will of God. God is not worshiped in any of the ways invented by humankind, but the opposite and consequently such worship is an abomination to God. Worship is to be in Spirit and Truth (John 4.24) and it is for those in the Spirit and in this last age that means in the body of Christ, added there by the Lord Himself by your obedience to the word of truth of the gospel. The worship of the world religions often includes aspects or similarities of what God required in the Old Covenant, which was “nailed to the cross.” The idea of a sacrifice, of priests and high priests had their time and it was part of God’s plan in bringing Christ and reconciliation – they were a shadow of what was to come. Paul came on the Athenians worshiping the unknown god and making images, bringing things as though God needed something and building buildings and he clearly set straight God’s will in this matter. It is quite different than the ideas of humankind in worship. Worshiping God is SPIRITUAL, not physical and in TRUTH as God directs in the word of God.

Acts 17.24-27

24 “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.
25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.
26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

The worship and organization of Roman Catholicism is a mix of paganism (much from Rome) and humanism in supposing what they think God wants for worship and a Roman-like hierarchical organization. It is exactly 180 degrees in opposition to God who wants your obedience – that is what pleases God!

Colossians 3.17

17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

This verse contains the idea of the one who has authority. The idea of doing all things in the name of Jesus is not using Jesus name in everything we say, but in all things doing them by the authority of Christ. Did Christ authorize the Catholic Church, the Protestant Denominations, Mormonism, Islam and all the others? No!

1 Corinthians 15.20-26

20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

Jesus has been given all authority over heaven and earth and it is He who will, at His coming at the end of time, turn the kingdom (that is His body, the church) back to the Father. One should notice where authority exists today and it is in Christ – there is no other authority. In following the scriptures you follow Christ and not any human institution. Peter never acted with authority and yet hundreds of years later certain unknown persons built the idea of human authority in spiritual matters and assigned it to one man (Pope) and other officials (Cardinals and Bishops) in a pattern like Rome.

Note: Roman Catholicism, not a name Catholics prefer today as it points to their origin out of the Roman Empire. As Jesus warned and Paul and others pointed out there would be and there was in Paul’s time a falling away – a changing of the gospel. The term elder, which is the same word as bishop is one with oversight of a local group of Christians. So indeed, that was a term used in the early church. It was a church already changing from the doctrine of Christ to many different doctrines. In Rome, the church was quickly corrupted by pagan practices. There were various bishops in Rome and they worked together and in fact had the first council of Nicaea in 325 AD. This would be one of the early and formal events where men gathered to make the rules. There was no pope that is, no exalted bishop at this time. The council was convoked by Emperor Constantine the first and presided over by the bishop of Corduba, Hosius. The church at that time was highly corrupted – no longer the church, but a human institution. The Lord’s church would not support pagan practices, would not be any larger than the local church, would not convene for doctrinal purposes (the bible was the doctrine), and would have elders that qualified according to the scriptures. There was an organization entity referred to as the church in the history books, but this was not the church belonging to Christ.

Note: Invariably, there were those in Christ rightfully called the church in existence, but they were not (we might say) in the public eye. How do we know, because God’s people were following the doctrine of Christ and not following after the clear falling away from the gospel.

Constantine the liberator of “Christians – so-called” had the title Maximus Pontifex as it was a title for Roman Emperors since 63 BC until the 4th century. Much later when there was an official head bishop of Rome, this title would be used. The title was the Roman Pontiff or pope. Catholicism had a slow evolution in Rome and eventually became the first significant end product of the falling away that was predicted. This is where the pope came into existence and why the idea of and the manifestation of such took until about 606 A.D. It needed to be invented as it was not in the New Testament. The Roman Catholic Church as it would come to be called had no validity unless it could tie itself to the scriptures. They did this in the most blasphemous manner by claiming that Jesus appointed Peter to be the first pope and he had the authority to make the rules, and they refer to this as Ex cathedra. Ex cathedra is a Latin phrase, which does not mean to Catholics “from the cathedral,” but “from the chair.” The phrase was applied to decisions made by Popes from their thrones. According to Roman Catholic doctrine, a Pope speaking ex cathedra on issues of faith or morals is infallible. Another title of interest is the Vicar of Christ. A vicar in the broadest sense means someone who is authorized to act as a substitute or agent for a superior. Specifically, the Catholic teaching is:
‘For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise.” [Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition (Washington, DC: US Catholic Conference, 1994, 1997) #882.]

The scriptures indicate authority clearly, universally, and without question belonging only to God. Throughout the scriptures those who substituted their ideas for God are the exact opposite of those who please God and in direct and total opposition to God’s purpose. Jesus pointed to the Holy Spirit as the one who would guide the apostles into all truth (John 16.13). That eliminates any other means by which truth would come to humankind. The religions of humankind have resulted in the most horrendous of crimes (the loss of souls) as they destroyed the simplicity of God’s message.
It is interesting how authority is something that was needed for humankind – the physical existence, but like time, it has no purpose in the next life. All authority will be abolished! Time is an essential ingredient for the physical existence as is authority. God uses time (a limitation) and authority (valid laws) to determine the faithful from the unfaithful. Faith always originates and continues in just one place and that is the word of God.

Romans 10.17

17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

You become a child of God by obedience to the gospel that is, by being born again by the word of God. You cannot separate faith from the word of God, it exists no other place. We become sons of God by Faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3.26-29). God is very specific in terms of your soul, that is, the mandatory obedience to the word of God.

1 Peter 1.22,23

22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.

The Holiness of God

The holiness of God simply means God is unique and needs to be viewed as infinitely different than humankind. God is set aside, one of a kind and when the scriptures mention being holy as God is holy this means we have been set aside by God as a child of God.

1 Peter 1.14-16

14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;
15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

This relationship with our savior occurs when we obey the gospel and we can remain set aside for God as long as we are faithful.

Note: God did create humankind in His image and this means we have an intellect, a unique personality and we are eternal all like God. However, we are created in an infinitely lower scale in these qualities.

Called to Holiness – The process of becoming a child of God is obedience to the gospel of Christ. The church itself (spiritual) is the called out by the gospel and the word church(ekklesia) means “called out.” The Holy Spirit delivered the truth and when obeyed removes past sins and is the answer to God’s call for you to be holy – separated for God.

1 Thessalonians 4.7,8

7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.
8 Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.

Jesus said He would build His Church and that is His spiritual body and that is what He calls people to and the means is the gospel message.

2 Thessalonians 2.14

14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God’s people are not called to some physical building or some human institution, but to holiness being in the body of Christ.

Holy Scriptures – The scriptures coming from God are uniquely the product of God’s will and are vastly different than any other writings. They are rightly referred to as the Holy Scriptures. The Holy Scriptures and absolutely nothing else is able to make you wise for salvation.

2 Timothy 3.15

15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Holy Commandment – The word of God contains His commands and thus they are holy, unique being from God. There are no other commands, no other truths and even for a child of God there is the warning below if they turn from them. God’s word is serious and is all a person needs to know in order to know what to do in order to succeed.

2 Peter 2.21

21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.

Holy Conduct – The conduct of a child of God is to be according to the doctrine of Christ – the word of God. God points out how there will be nothing left – all physical things will be gone and in view of this your conduct must be holy. Specifically, the conduct God expects from those “in Christ.”

2 Peter 3.11

11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness

An atrocious blasphemy against God Assigning things as holy that are not!

The holy Catholic Church
The holy father
The holy sacrifice of the mass

Something is only holy when God sets it aside for Himself – God, who is perfectly clear in delivering the truth did not give the concept of holiness to any of these things mentioned above. In fact none of these things exist except as the inventions of men.
There are hundreds of other inventions that did not come from God and thus are not holy, but the opposite. These so-called “holy” things are despised and hated by God and will likewise be hated and despised by those who followed and supported such doctrines and consequently lose out on heaven.

Commendation or Condemnation

In conclusion, there is nothing like the Catholic Church in the scriptures. Catholicism can handle that by saying we make the rules. The first century ends and the revelation from God is complete. There was no pope or anything like a pope, but the opposite. There were no priests, except inasmuch as every child of God is a royal priesthood and no matter what a Catholic mentions as their doctrine it will be in opposition to God. God provided through Christ, and Jesus provided through the Holy Spirit the truth a person needs to be saved. Catholicism teaches another gospel and brings each person a step closer to failure. This like all religions different than the truth came into existence by a disregard for the truth. A few of those religions grew substantially due to the opportunity and tenacity of their leaders.
These religions sometimes grew out of paranoia, selfishness and the desire to possess the associated power over people and in the case of Catholicism also over nations. In James, there is a contrast between the wisdom of humankind and that of God.

James 3.16,17

16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

The religions of the world originated in envy and self-seeking and resulted in confusion and indeed are full of evil. The ultimate evil is the cost to souls and there is no greater evil. These religions usually become exclusive in terms of, “their way being the only and/or best way.” The truth is exclusive, because it is God’s way and throughout scripture God makes it singular.
Now the wisdom that is from above that is, from God is pure (itself holy) and peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and is not partial (but perfectly fair) and there is no hypocrisy. Yet, because it is from God it is the truth and to be obeyed. God’s wisdom has provided an answer to sin in Jesus and now sins can be forgiven permanently. Mercy is extended, but only contained in the framework of the cross of Christ. Those who reject the goodness of God will be rejected by God.
A person can follow the word of God and be like those in the New Testament that were added to the body of Christ. God provides examples and you need nothing else. In obedience is where your hope lies as it says below, “reserved in heaven for you.”

1 Peter 1.3-5

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Isn’t it amazing how a person can take God’s word and find truth, find faith, obey that word and achieve heaven? Yet designed into the process, is a way that results in certain people failing to find truth and respond to it, while others succeed. God, separates those who in humility accept His way from those who in pride develop, find and follow other ways. Throughout the scriptures, pride is the great destroyer and God points out that “pride comes before destruction.” Pride stands between each person and success in life or more precisely success in the next life. In this specific case of Catholicism, it will be pride in the Catholic faith that “shuts down” seeking, finding and living the truth.

A person only understands God correctly inasmuch as He has revealed Himself, outside of the truth there are many inventions. There are all of these religions. God is serious about the truth, about His ways and so when you envision God as forgiving it is only in the way God forgives. He has graciously revealed how He forgives. He has revealed His Son as the answer and following Jesus’ obedience to the Father, He became the author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him. That is, obey the gospel. It begins with a love of the truth and that love must be stronger than what you currently believe. God, in love warns of everlasting destruction for those who DO NOT OBEY THE GOSPEL, who DID NOT RECEIVE A LOVE OF THE TRUTH.

2 Thessalonians 1.7-12

7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,
8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Life is about the soul and in the end nothing else will have mattered. God has told you where to place your trust and that is in Him, in His word.
If you read the scriptures you will not end up with Catholicism, Protestantism, Mormonism, Islam or any of the others, but will find the truth and it is tremendously different than the prideful inventions of humankind. God’s plan is working perfectly to separate those who indeed love Him and that means loving His truth and obeying IT. Specifically, it is loving, obeying, and living the doctrine of Christ and NOT ANY OTHER DOCTRINE. It is the way humankind loves God that is by keeping His commands – John 14.15.
What do you think is missing that compelled man to invent all these religions? Where did God go wrong? God has left us with all we need to be successful, but look at all that Catholicism has added (and removed). In the scripture record there were people saved as God planned and there was no Catholic Church, no pope, no sacraments, no mass, and on and on. You can be saved, get on the road to heaven in the same way as those in the first century. One of the most fascinating things that at the same time is the most devastating is how the fundamental truth needed to establish a relationship with God has been distorted to the point of being of no value. The simplicity of God’s message is there for you.

One of the most fundamental understandings of God is that it is not in man to direct his own steps that is in spiritual matters.

Jeremiah 10.23

23 O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.

The very idea that humankind, in this case the Catholic Church and its leaders could direct people in spiritual matters is the height of blasphemy. God’s test to achieve eternal life is all about following God’s ways. The apostles were given the ability to bind and loose, but in Matthew 16.16-19 it does not say HOW, WHEN or HOW LONG. Jesus would after that time tell the apostles how that would occur. They would be guided into all truth by the Spirit of God. All things we now have that are written came by inspiration of the Holy Spirit (“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God – 2 Timothy 3.16”). The scriptures were from God and were not to be privately interpreted (realize they are from God and speak as God spoke) and understand the truth NEVER came by the will of man – then or at any time.

2 Peter 1.20,21

20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,
21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus indicated when the apostles would be empowered by indicating they should tarry in Jerusalem awaiting the Holy Spirit. We know now it would be the day of Pentecost after Jesus’ death. The Holy Spirit indicated through the word when that guidance would be completed. Peter would through the Spirit indicate we have all things pertaining to life and godliness. This happened towards the end of the first century and effectively with the death of the apostles the revelation was complete.
The scriptures provide a complete picture from God about life from beginning to end. There was a mystery in how God was going to accomplish what was promised in Genesis 3.15. Everything in that regard was related to Christ coming, teaching and ultimately fulfilling Genesis 3.15 by His death, burial and resurrection. Paul tells the Romans it is the preaching of gospel that can establish a person – no longer anything mysterious.

Romans 16.25,26

25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began
26 but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—

Humankind had all that was needed and anything added would be from man and not from God. The variance from God’s message is represented in the religions of the world and in our case here Catholicism has no basis in truth.

The Bottom Line For The Apostles And For You

The apostles were thrown in prison in Acts 5, but the angel opened the gates and they went free. They went to the temple and were preaching Jesus. The captain of the temple gathers them and takes them to the Jewish council. The response of the apostles to the council is simple and straightforward and the answer that every person who wants to receive heaven should speak and live.

Acts 5.26-32

26 Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned.
27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them,
28 saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!”
29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.
30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.
31 Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
32 And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

Indeed, we ought to obey God rather than man. When you obey Catholicism or any religion you are obeying men/women. You may think by being in obedience to some men or women you are obeying God, but God did not leave humankind in such a predicament. The message from God is very singular and points to the word of truth of the gospel and absolutely nothing else.

The bottom line can be said in various ways, but you will end up in heaven or have failed in life. It is not hard to leave what you currently believe if you love the truth, but pretty much impossible if you do not. The thing that makes it easy for the truth lover is that the truth is so powerful, so perfect and you know you are in communication with and trusting in God. You have not placed your trust in any person. You will have support in the Lord’s local church, but you always believe what is consistent with the word of God.